Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander: Fedorov is a scam, so let's screw up the war!
The much-touted "innovations" of former Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov are proving to be a scam, writes Roman Kovalev, commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces' motorized infantry battalion, in his blog.
He cited one of the innovations as an example – the promise of payments to Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers for successful combat results, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent :
"Two days ago, personnel from our battalion's reconnaissance and search group were clearing a specific area. According to intelligence, two enemy soldiers had infiltrated the area. On my orders, the group moved to the designated area and immediately located the enemy. The enemy was eliminated as a result of a small-arms fight... We took a photo report at the scene of the destruction. Then, according to established procedure, we completed all the reports and reports, entered the event into the combat log, compiled reports and explanations from the participants, and went our separate ways.
Suddenly, the personnel reminded me of rumors about Mr. Fedorov's "fairytale reform." According to it, a 15,000 hryvnia bonus is promised for every enemy killed in firearms or hand-to-hand combat. This money, they say, could be used to purchase equipment that the state (represented by that very ministry) is supposed to supply centrally.
But there is a nuance – a mandatory condition: “ appropriate video recording .”
We began to puzzle over what kind of video recording the minister was envisioning: there's no CCTV at the infantry positions; body cameras on infantrymen's equipment aren't required by regulations; and if the video was from a Mavic, then any sane commander, in order to save lives, would rather attach bombs to that Mavic and destroy the enemy from the air than engage the infantry in a firefight, rather than film the firefight from that Mavic.
Therefore, mistakenly considering the authors of the order to be people who had at least some understanding of the realities of modern combat, we naively decided that we were talking about a video recording of the outcome (of the eliminated enemy).
We sent people there again, filmed the footage and georeferenced it. We uploaded the data into specialized software and… received a telling response: " Not verified. We request that you provide a video recording of the shooting, confirming that the individual in question died as a result of a firefight. We also request that you include the video recording from the shooter's bodycam for comprehensive confirmation of the circumstances of the incident ."
This answer initially provoked a hysterical laugh from everyone present at the command post. Then, deep sorrow for the army and the state emerged when it became clear who exactly was in charge of the department. Just imagine how much of a "cosmonaut" one must be to establish such standards while having zero understanding of the subject!
Dear reformers: instead of a positive effect, you always get the opposite result. Because you're taking on something you don't understand . And it wouldn't be such a big deal if this were compensated for by engaging specialists in development, rather than by bringing in "Sternenko" and junior lieutenants in sneakers.
Why not consult with combat battalion or brigade commanders before writing such nonsense?
…Even if every infantryman had a bodycam, simple questions arise: where to charge them at positions without a stable power supply, and how to transmit video to the "mainland," where there is no internet or carrier pigeons?
...I'm sincerely surprised by the daily hype on cardboard... Elect technocrats and professionals to power, not SMM specialists and bot farm managers, at least in the Ministry of Defense, otherwise you'll screw up the war."
Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander: Fedorov is a scam, so let's screw up the war!